Today we’d like to introduce you to Louis Staggers, III.
Hi Louis, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Throughout my life, I’ve always been a huge car enthusiast. When I was around 17 (2017) I started thinking about what life would be like if I had my own small automotive brand. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have my own car brand, clothing brand, or automotive accessory brand but I knew I wanted to start something that represented my interest in cars. I was also highly interested in designing and drawing sports cars.
With this in mind, I came up with the name “Pristine Automotive Designs”, or for short “PADESIGNSS”. I also knew I wanted my logo to resemble a car brand. This leads me to decide the design a shield with “PAD” within it. After putting these two things together I started taking more of an interest in photography as well. Bringing all of this together lead to me creating an Instagram account for the brand and starting to share my beginner photography as well as releasing clothing to associate with it such as hoodies, t-shirts, wristbands, and key tags. I also shared a lot of my automotive journey through YouTube.
I made videos such as car reviews, point-of-view vlogs, as well as general automotive adventures. Fast forwarding a couple of years to 2019 and I was inspired to take PAD a step forward. This step forward was beginning my own yearly automotive rallies. Rallys are all about gathering a group of people and traveling to an array of both automotive and tourist-based destinations. These rallies give participants an opportunity to meet a ton of other like-minded enthusiasts and create lifelong friendships and memories. In 2019, I had around 8 cars present for my first rally.
After years of improvement, time, efforts, intense planning, and learning, in 2022 we had about 35 cars take on the road through famous destinations like the Tail of the Dragon, Gatlinburg Tennessee, and Lake Lure North Carolina. I’m so proud to say that each year the PAD family has grown stronger and larger.
This is all thanks to my extremely strong support team such as my parents, my girlfriend Shayla, and all of my friends and family that have pushed me so hard through this process. PAD is still moderately small but each year there’s a great improvement from the previous one.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This process hasn’t been a smooth one necessarily but it has been a fun one. One of the biggest struggles I’ve had is trying to figure out where to navigate after hitting a roadblock. For example, I’ve created T-shirts, hoodies, wristbands, etc. One of the big questions I have to ask myself is, should I continue with the lineup of apparel and accessories I have now, or start a completely new product?
Another challenge I faced was getting through college. Luckily, I graduated from Charleston Southern back in may of 2022 however, those past four years not only consumed a great deal of time away from PAD, but it’s also difficult trying to jump back into PAD on the apparel side.
The biggest struggle on the rally side of things is searching for new routes to plot for the upcoming year. This is not only extremely time-consuming but can also get a bit pricey (especially with the increase in gas prices) when traveling out to inspect these routes. As I said earlier, these obstacles may be difficult but in the end, it’s what make this whole process interesting and fun.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
If I could pick something that I’d say I’m known for that I also greatly enjoy, is speaking with and meeting new people. I feel as though networking with new people creates some of the best opportunities for both the present and the future.
Whether it’s an automotive event that I’m hosting or attending, I always make sure I do my best to meet and speak with someone new. This not only provides the potential for a new friendship with a like-minded car enthusiast, but also provides other opportunities such as professional partnerships, sponsorship, or a new future rally attendee.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
In terms of favorite childhood memory, I couldn’t think of one in particular, however, the majority of my favorite childhood memories stem from going on summer vacations with my family. Each year we’d choose a new destination, pack our SUV, and get on the road.
One of the largest trips we conquered was a road trip to Canada. We drove from South Carolina all the way up to Niagara Falls and Ontario, Canada. Spending time with family whether it’s traveling, movie nights or dinner is what makes up my best childhood memories.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pristineautomotivedesigns.weeblysite.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/padesignss/
Image Credits
Chloe Mims Photography
